Pistons center Greg Monroe has long bristled at the notion that he's having a "down" year, but he's shown signs of advancing his game in recent outings.

Seemingly, it's stemmed from what we all expected to be a staple in his offensive repertoire — his midrange jump shot that's suddenly begun to fall.

"That was the first shot, right? First play," said Monroe after the Pistons' 96-87 win over the Wizards on Saturday night. "Open shot, I made it. It kind of got me going. Today, though, we did a good job setting the tone on defense."

While it's true his defense has improved and the moments where he's left flat-footed haven't been as plentiful — and coach Lawrence Frank hasn't hesitated to publicly give him credit — Monroe is primarily an offensive player and when that shot is falling, everything opens up. His scoring is almost identical from last season (15.6, from 15.4 last season), while his assists are up (2.3 to 3.3).

"I would hope so and I'm going to continue to be aggressive in scoring in spots where I'm comfortable," Monroe said. "I don't get caught up in numbers, especially personally. All I'm worried about is the win column.